A CULTURE OF DEPRIVATION:

THE POOR, THE DISPOSSESSED

Kay E. Vandergrift

Throughout the semester,
we have shared books that celebrate all the world's children. Not all of their
stories have been happy ones, but overall they have been positive and hopeful.
Perhaps this is itself astonishing in a country in which so many children go
to bed cold and hungry and get up, still cold and hungry, to go to schools that
are dirty, decrepit and without adequate resources.

Some of these children
don't even have homes or parents who love them.

Even in these circumstances,
however, there is hope. Just as we now have picture books representing many
other cultures, we are beginning to have stories of children in dire economic
straits. For this module, we will discuss the books below and add others to
this list.